FuelCellsWorks

The 200 fuel cell black cabs due on London’s streets in time for the Olympics will have additional locations from which to refuel following the news that the city will have ‘mobile’ hydrogen filling stations in 2012. There is currently only one hydrogen refuelling station in Britain.

The hydrogen will be dispensed from mobile trailer-mounted refuelling units parked on filling station forecourts. Drivers will use them as they would a standard pump. Each trailer carries enough hydrogen to refuel 30 fuel call cars before it needs to be replaced.

The Air Products trailers offer a quick and relatively cheap way of providing infrastructure for hydrogen use.

Fuel cell London cabs

Intelligent Energy, Lotus, LTI (London Taxis International) and TRW Conekt are jointly developing the hydrogen fuel cell London cabs in time for the Olympics in 2012.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “A London TX4 taxi emits 226g CO2 per km, but the problem with diesel-engined vans, buses and cabs in urban areas is more about the particulates released in their exhaust. The detrimental effect this has on health makes a strong case for switching to fuel cell technology.”

The cabs will produce no emissions at point of use.

How will the fuel cell cab work?

The fuel cell black cabs will use hydrogen rather than batteries to power an electric motor – not having to rely on batteries results in a lower weight, longer range and a quicker refuelling time.

This type of vehicle is clean at point of use, but hydrogen is only as clean as the energy sources used to produce it.

GARDNERVILLE, NV — SymPowerco Corporation (PINKSHEETS: SYMW) CEO John Davenport today announced the start of a new project for the development and construction of an advanced Flowing Electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (”FEDMFC”) prototype. The as-yet-unnamed project will serve to address several objectives relating to the advancement of FEDMFC technologies including innovative engineering designs, durability, scalability and manufacturing methods and economics.SymPowerco’s management is of the opinion that its engineering and electro-chemical ideas and designs must be implemented and tested with a state-of-the-art prototype that offers sufficient flexibility in its design to allow multiple engineering concepts to be tested under broad operating parameters.

The prototype will be developed completely in-house by SymPowerco’s subsidiary, Polygenic Power Corp. SymPowerco Corporation will retain control of all facets of the project as well as all Intellectual Property rights that result from the project. The project will run parallel with any other fuel cell projects with which the company is involved and is expected to greatly expedite the company’s FEDMFC objectives.

SymPowerco Corporation develops advanced fuel cell and power delivery systems for the rapidly growing personal transportation and portable power system markets that are being created by today’s energy and environmental challenges.

BARCELONA, Spain–Electro Power Systems SpA is launching ElectroSelf, the world’s first entirely self-recharging hydrogen fuel cell technology at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona [stand 7IZ19 (Innovation Zone) in hall 7]. It is designed to deliver dependable backup power for mobile networks in any location whether off-grid, in locations with unreliable power, or in extreme climates. The self-contained and self-recharging fuel-cell system consumes only water, produces zero greenhouse gas emissions and can be installed to backup renewable or mains power. It releases mobile operators from much of the inconvenience of providing backup power through gensets and batteries. It drives operating expenses down, minimises maintenance, eliminates diesel refueling or battery replacement costs, and provides comprehensive remote power monitoring and control.

ElectroSelf fundamentally changes the economics of backup power provision. Initial CapEx is offset by a far lower total cost of ownership and an extended product life expectancy. It dramatically reduces the operating costs by eliminating ongoing fuel costs and minimising maintenance visits. For example, it only requires minimal water top-up once per year.

ElectroSelf gives operators an opportunity to make a significant step towards greener networks and operations. It is a completely clean technology and specifically designed to work with both renewable and grid power. It is particularly useful for off-grid installations because it enables the storage of renewable energy, which is never supplied constantly. Less frequent maintenance visits plus remote monitoring mean dramatically lower carbon emissions from maintenance travel and this smaller environmental footprint is matched by an ultra-neat physical footprint of just 600×800mm which requires no extra space for air-conditioning or cooling.

ElectroSelf can unleash true business benefits. It operates between -20°C and 45°C enabling operators to expand further off-grid and into more extreme climates than legacy backup power technologies can tolerate. ElectroSelf has advanced control and power electronics that enable fully remote management and control.

Electro Power Systems was founded in 2005 and is based in Italy. It is an established player in the sector of fuel cell systems for mission-critical backup power applications. More information can be found at www.electrops.it. ElectroSelf is a trademark of Electro Power Systems SpA.

Dedicated biomass gasification technologies are presently being developed in many countries for the production of second-generation liquid biofuels. Both fluidised-bed gasification and special entrained flow systems are under intensive development. These technologies can also be used for hydrogen production, which may become an interesting alternative in replacing part of fossil fuel input in oil refineries and chemical industries. In addition, fuel cell technology is being developed for hydrogen-rich gases.

New and revolutionary production methods, capable of replacing the classical process routes, can not however be foreseen to emerge in the medium-term. Also the new hydrogen separation technologies, presently under development, seem to have only limited potential to reduce the production cost of hydrogen compared to commercially available technology.

However, with rising prices of fossil fuels and locally depleting natural gas reserves, gasification route is likely to gain more ground as a credible production technology for hydrogen. The global needs to cut down the CO2 emissions can also make gasification of biomass an interesting possibility. Several biomass gasification processes are presently at demonstration phase, mostly aimed for the production of liquid transportation fuels. If and when this technology will be commercialized, it could easily be adopted to the production of hydrogen.

http:// http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/workingpapers/2009/W131.pdf